Doggett: Trump's Russian Diesel Deal Violates the Law

Sponsor of 2022 Russian Energy Import Ban Says Trump Rewards Putin While Blaming Zelensky

WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), a longtime champion of cutting off Russian energy revenue whose name is on the 2022 Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act (Public Law 117-109), today said President Trump's deal with Vladimir Putin to allow Russian diesel into the United States directly violates that law.

On Friday, after a Trump call with Putin, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 135, authorizing the sale, delivery, offloading, and "importation into the United States" of Russian diesel through April 7, 2027.

"In 2022, my name was on the first law banning Russian fossil fuel imports to deny Putin funding for his brutal invasion of Ukraine," said Rep. Doggett. "Now Trump is directly violating that law, lifting sanctions to permit the first Russian diesel imports into the United States since the law took effect, without satisfying the specific legal conditions it requires. He illegally rewards his pal Putin while once again blaming Zelensky for not capitulating to Putin. Meanwhile, every day Putin murders more Ukrainian civilians."

What the law requires

The Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act passed the House 413-9 and the Senate unanimously, and was signed into law on April 8, 2022. It bans the importation of all Russian energy products classified under chapter 27 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, which includes diesel.

The law permits the President to end the ban only by certifying to Congress that Russia has:

• reached an agreement to withdraw its forces and end hostilities that is accepted by Ukraine's government;
• ceased to pose an immediate military threat to any NATO member; and
• recognized the right of the Ukrainian people to freely choose their own government.

Bipartisan concern

Rep. Doggett's concerns are shared across party lines. A bipartisan group of senators has recognized the illegality of Trump's action. On NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) said there is "a legitimate case for saying the president's not following the law" and warned that the deal will put American lives at risk, citing the Kremlin's ties to Iran. Former Vice President Mike Pence called lifting the sanctions a betrayal of the late Senator Lindsey Graham's legacy.

The deal comes weeks after President Trump signed a sweeping Russia sanctions law, and only weeks after he publicly called on President Zelensky to stop Ukrainian strikes on Russian diesel infrastructure, blaming Ukraine rather than the war with Iran for high fuel prices.

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